This invention refers to a sorting device for sorting articles, comprising a conveyor which is movable in a conveying direction along a conveying path, the conveyor comprising a number of sorting units, each sorting unit comprising a carriage and at least one load-carrying element connected to the carriage for supporting articles, wherein the load-carrying elements are movable with regard to an associated carriage for unloading articles from the load-carrying elements at predetermined unloading positions, at least two of the sorting units being coupled together, a gap being formed between two adjacent load-carrying elements of two sorting units that are coupled together, the gap being covered by an intermediate element adapted to support an article, the sorting device comprising a stationarily arranged removal device for moving a selected article in a transverse direction off the conveyor at a predetermined removal position.
Today's sortation applications require sorter speeds of several m/sec which makes automated removal of articles positioned partially or entirely on an intermediate element a challenge during operation of the sorter. The goal of this invention is the removal of articles positioned between or partially between the load-carrying elements of a sorter in an automated way without stopping or reducing the speed of the sorting device. The load-carrying element can be any sortation tray, cross-belt element, tilt-tray etc., and the sorting device can be any sortation system, e.g. a closed loop sorter or a line sorter. The gaps between the load-carrying elements or trays of a sorter are normally covered by an intermediate element, e.g. a plate. Articles that are positioned on the load-carrying elements are unloaded transversely to the conveying direction of the sorter at predetermined unloading positions, for example by driving the cross-belts transverse to the conveying direction of the conveyor or by activating a tilt tray.
Articles that are positioned by mistake partially or entirely on an intermediate element cannot be unloaded at an unloading position by driving or activating a load-carrying element.
A device for the removal of articles that are positioned on intermediate elements is described in NL 2 015 502 B1. However, this device can only be used during a so-called maintenance run of the sorter and not during regular operation of the sorter. Also, it is known to remove articles manually from an intermediate element during a maintenance brake of the sorter. Both known solutions are costly and/or time-consuming.